


Magic Spell AU

by Dragongoddess13



Series: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge [15]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge, Another to be continued at some point, Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, F/M, Fuckyeahdarcylewis 30 Day Cheesy Tropes And Rare Pairs Challenge, I did it again, Witch!Darcy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3403157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 20<br/>Magic Spell<br/>30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge<br/>Darcy Lewis & Nick Fury</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magic Spell AU

**Author's Note:**

> I love Howl's moving castle and now that I've read the first book I love it even more. I'm kind of upset that they changed so much between the book and the movie, I.E. turning Howl into more of a hero and taking away Sophie's amazing powers/awesomeness so this story is based on the book not the movie. I tried not to go to deep into the book since I don't know how many people have actually read it.   
> I did it again too. I didn't mean to make this continuable, so I apologize if it takes awhile for anymore to be posted.

Magic Spell

30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge

Darcy Lewis & Nick Fury

xXx

Darcy loved New York, it was enormous and loud and full of adventure, but her home would always be her father's moving castle with the sarcastic fire demon in the hearth and the spiders in the rafters.

Born to the Wizard Howl Jenkins and Witch Sophie Hatter-Jenkins, Darcy was raised among magic and love the likes of which most people could never imagine. As a child she played by the hearth with her fire demon guardian and spent the occasional weekend with her Aunt Lettie and Uncle Marcus in the town of Market Chipping. Most days were spent roaming the hillsides and flowered valleys in the mountains, sometimes even swimming in the crystal blue lakes. 

Darcy was well aware of the world beyond the one she was born to. Her father wasn't from the magical world, but rather a different, much less magical, but no less beautiful place. England he called it and he told tales of the food and the places to see. He spoke fondly of his former home but it was obvious no place held his attention better than the world he chose beyond the black spot in the door. Darcy was fascinated by this world. A world where people used science to explain magic and religion to explain science. 

The people were so strange. Answers were right in front of them, starring them in the face but they couldn't and sometimes refused to see them. Nobody was willing to believe things existed beyond their world even though the idea that they were all there was was ridiculous. 

There were people who understood there was room to learn, to grow. She liked those people, but sometimes they could be just as stubborn and closed minded as the others. And then there were the people who believed anything was possible. People like Jane Foster.  

Darcy found Jane through her enchanted crystal ball one evening, hunched over her work and studiously ignoring the less than subtle remarks on the state of her sanity from the next room. Jane believed there were other universes, other places that connected in some way, and despite the ridicule she received from her skeptical colleges she kept pushing, kept moving forward. 

"I'm going to help her." Darcy spoke aloud on that fateful night in late May. May Day was just around the corner and her parents were off at Aunt Lettie and Uncle Marcus' helping prepare the celebration. Calcifer flickered to life in the fireplace. 

"And how are you going to do that kid?" The blue flames danced and cracked as he reached for another log. 

"By giving her what she needs." Darcy stood from the table and began digging through the collection of magical odds and ends on the shelf above her. She pulled out a few jars of different colored powders and a sheet of vellum paper and returned to her seat to work. She mixed the powders; a sprinkle of red for the passion of her work, a bit of blue to keep her cool headed some purple to level out her hurt feelings and bright yellow to bolster her determination.

When she was finished she returned to her crystal ball and summoned the image of Dr. Foster. The young woman was fast asleep at her desk a pen caught in her hair. Darcy held the paper tight in her hands and whispered a few words under her breath, then with a flick of her wrist she sprinkled the powder over the glass and watched as the sparks transcended into Jane's world. The woman shifted a little then fell into deep slumber again. 

Darcy smiled triumphantly. "Don't get ahead of yourself kid; you won't know if it worked until morning." Calcifer warned. 

"I know, I know." She muttered cleaning up the table before heading off to bed. 

The next morning her father was still asleep when she came down stairs to find her mother making breakfast. 

"Good morning darling." Sophie greeted her only daughter.

"Good morning mother." She replied casual making her way to her crystal ball. 

"Checking up on your spell?" Sophie asked nonchalantly, never looking away from the pan frying over Calcifer. 

"I didn't tell her!" Was his muffled reply. 

"No he didn't. Now who did you enchant and why?" Darcy sighed sitting on the bench and turning to face her mother. 

"Her name is Jane. Dr. Jane Foster, a brilliant scientist who is taking ridicule from her peers because she has the audacity to believe in something bigger than herself. All I did was give her the little push she needed to prove she's right." 

Sophie said nothing as she removed the pan from the fire and plated the food onto three plates. She then dumped what remained into Calcifer's waiting mouth. Darcy stood helping her move the plates. 

"Well, are you going to check up on her?" Howl's voice called from the stairwell. Darcy looked between her parents before moving her crystal ball closer and waving a hand over the glass. The image of Dr. Foster appeared easily. She was on the phone talking excitedly to a man she called Eric about approval for a grant she had applied for. In one month she would be moving her research to New Mexico.

"Now all I have to do is find an intern." Was the last thing they heard her say as Darcy disconnected the image. 

After that Darcy checked in every so often, each time becoming more distressed over the state of Dr. Foster. The man named Eric turned out to be her godfather and he seemed to be struggling to get her to slow down. It took severe episodes of sickness to get Jane to stop and eat or sleep and despite having spoken of finding an apprentice, one never appeared. 

"She needs help father." Darcy said one evening while her mother was out. "She can't keep going like this, all alone. What if she really hurts herself?"

"I don't know what to tell you sweetheart. You've done all you can. Casting another enchantment could undo what you've already done." He explained. 

"That's the tricky thing about enchantments kiddo. No matter how much good you intend to do with them sometimes they just don't do good." Calcifer piped up from the hearth. 

"Well it's my fault she's running herself ragged. I must have added too much determination; it counter acted the calming blue. I have to do something, but I can't reverse the enchantment she'll lose everything."

"Well then," her mother's voice drifted in as the front door open from Market Chipping. "If you are determined to continue helping her you must discover a way to do so." 

Her aunt Lettie followed behind her mother a bright smile on her face as always. "If this is about that woman in Howl's world I'm sure you will do just fine." Lettie explained. "You’re a Hatter and a Jenkins, there's very little you cannot accomplish when you set your mind to it." Darcy smiled accepting the bakery box handed to her. She could smell her favorite cream cake from her aunt’s bakery inside. 

That night was spent with family, and Darcy allowed herself to forget about Jane for the night. The next morning it seemed to hit her all at once. 

"I'm going to be her assistant." Darcy declared as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. For once her father was awake early and he looked up from his work at the table. "If an assistant won't come forward in her world then I will just have to do it." 

"Is that so? And how do you plan to get away with that?" Sophie asked. 

"I'm going to forge my attendance to her university and make it look like I had no choice but to take her internship. That way it won't bother her so much that I don't know the science. I'll be able to keep an eye on her and make sure the enchantment doesn't get worse." 

"It sounds like you've got it all figured out." Howl spoke up a small smile on his face. 

"I do."

"Well alright then, let's get to work." He stood from the table just as Sophie set breakfast in front of them.  "After breakfast of course."

xXx

Jane was barely aware of Darcy when she first arrived and Eric was a little dubious of her, probably because her pretend major was Political science, but as soon as he saw her bully Jane into eating as sleeping he warmed up to her pretty quickly.

Thor happened, the destroyer leveled half of the town and SHIELD took over. Darcy was familiar with SHIELD. She'd watched SHIELD through her crystal ball. She didn't like them. They spent way too much time keeping the weird and strange things from people in the world, keeping people in the dark about what really happened in their world. 

There were people in the organization she knew were just trying to help people, to protect them, like Agent Coulson and Director Fury, but Darcy wasn't a big believer in the idea that keeping secrets was the best way to do that. 

Her point was proven when New York was attacked by alien creatures led by a Aesir Immortal. The people fell in love with the Avengers, but a spark of distrust lit where SHIELD was concerned. A spark that grew into a raging fire for the Avengers when Coulson was found to be alive and Hydra was hiding within SHIELD. They managed to save SHIELD, but now they had to restructure everything and the WSC was constantly breathing down their throats. Which only got worse the day Director Fury disappeared. 

Darcy had moved with Jane to New York after Thor became a permanent resident shortly before Hydra was discovered in SHIELD, and as stated before she loved it. She found herself a nice little apartment in Brooklyn and enjoyed her commute to the tower everyday where she went to work taking care of the scientists of Stark Industries. 

It was in her daily interactions that she found out Fury was missing. Natasha and Clint were tense as she stepped into Tony's lab, the rest of the team was scattered about discussing what to do. Darcy left the food she'd brought in for Stark and was about to leave when the assemble alarm went off. 

"Hydra agents detected outside the city." Jarvis chimed in and everyone jumped into action. Darcy saw herself out, heading back toward her office.

"Darce." Steve's voice called out behind her. She turned to find Steve, Bucky, Clint and Natasha walking toward her. 

"What's up Cap?" Steve looked a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Look, Darce, I know you really like your privacy and living outside the tower is part of that but we were kinda hopin' that you might consider moving in..." She opened her mouth to protest but Bucky quickly finished.

"Just until we figure out what Hydra is up to and make sure they’re not going to come after anyone else." 

Darcy looked between the four heroes ready to put up a fight. "It would make us all feel better to know you were safe too." Natasha added. She scowled, of course Natasha would use that line, knowing perfectly well Darcy would never say no to something like that. She rolled her eyes putting on a good show.

"Alright." She sighed half-heartedly. "I guess of it'll make all of you feel better." She all smiled at her with varying degrees of intensity. " I'll just run home and grab some stuff and come back here."

Natasha nodded. "Jarvis, contact Happy, make sure he goes with Darcy." 

"Of course Agent Romanoff." The AI replied. "He is waiting down in the lobby for Miss Lewis' arrival." 

xXx

Darcy left Happy on the curb with the car and the promise that she would be back in ten minutes. She quickly ascended the stairs to the third floor and entered her apartment. She pulled her suitcase from the closet and started packing clothes and personal supplies. Once that was finished she fished her duffle bag, the one her Uncle Marcus made her for her last birthday and filled it up with books and magical odds and ends from the hidden room beyond the biggest bookcase. 

She had just closed up the secret door when her attention was drawn to the front door. Just beyond she could hear a clicking, like claws scratching at the wood. A whine stopped her, her hand poised to twist the knob. 

"This is ridiculous." She mumbled to herself, reaching the last little bit and pulling the door open. The scratching stopped as the creature beyond the door, a large black Great Dane, stumbled forward. "Oh no." She breathed, kneeling before the dog, his familiar aura leading credence to what she alright knew. 

"That is some curse you've got there Director." The dog sat at attention with her words, his ears turning their attention on her. "I'm going to take a wild guess here and say Hydra didn't do this." 

Fury dog starred her down, his canine face as inscrutable as his human one. He finally shook his head 'no'. She chewed her lip, thinking before standing up and stepping aside to allow him passage. Hesitantly he stepped over the threshold and into the main room. 

"Alright, so let's take stock shall we." She spoke with as much authority as she could muster given the situation. "You're cursed. You're also here, and seeing as how you don't like me very much I have no doubt you're not here of your own volition." Fury dog looked confused. She shook her head and sat down in front of him so they were face to face. "Some unknown force led you here right? You can't really describe it but on some level it was like you knew coming here could help." He hesitated then nodded. "Whoever cursed you, cursed you because of me. They built in a... Beacon of sorts into the curse that led you to me. You’re a message to me. And before you ask, no, I don't know what that message is. I'm not an expert at reading curses like my father." 

Fury snorted disgruntled. Before she reassure him a knock sounded at the door. "Miss Lewis?" Happy's voice called through the wood panels. 

"Shit." She cursed under breath getting up off the floor. "Play along." She whispered earning an extremely unimpressed glare. She rolled her eyes. "Yea, I heard it." She opened the door, allowing Happy in. "Hey," she greeted. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to figure out what to do with my dog." 

"Oh, well Mr. Stark has a no pets policy, but I'm sure he'll make an exception this time." Happy explained. She smiled relieved. 

"Oh thank god, I don't think I could leave him with anyone". She replied with false gratitude playing into Happy's hero complex. 

"Oh it's no problem at all." He smiled the kind of smile that told her he was playing into her act. "Do you have everything you need?" She nodded. 

"Yea it's all in the bedroom." He nodded. 

"Double check you have everything and I'll go get your bags." He told her heading for the back of the apartment. Darcy looked down at Fury Dog. 

"Don't freak out on me." She whispered as she ran to the bookcase and threw it open. She pulled dashed inside and returned with a few bottles then ran back out shutting the door. She set the bottles on the coffee table and quickly mixed a few of the powders in an empty bottle. She then picked up the only bottle with liquid in it and squeezed just a drop in. Almost immediately it started smoking and she picked it up and ran for the bedroom, tossing it in and slamming the door. She heard the bed groan as Happy's unconscious body hit the mattress. "I will totally make this up to you." She mumbled as she turned away from the door. 

At the end of the hall stood Fury dog. "Don't look at me like that." She scolded walking right passed him. "Do you want to be human again or not?" There was a pause before he huffed an affirmative. 

She could hear his nails clicking on the hardwood as he followed her back to the bookcase. She opened it and then waited for him to enter the secret room before following him in and closing the door behind her. 

The room beyond the bookshelf was a decent size with shelves lining the walls and a single work bench in the center. On the far wall sat a door nestled between two picture windows. 

Darcy walked up to the door with Fury close behind her. He watched closely as she turned a dial above the doorknob until a swatch of black was visible. When the click turned into a thunk she turned the knob and opened the door. 

Just beyond was a pitch blackness that made Fury leery, but he didn't want to be a dog anymore so he followed her through the only darkness. They walked for what seemed like forever until a door appeared ahead of them. As they approached Darcy pulled a key from around her neck and unlocked the door when they stopped in front of it. 

When she opened that second door the most comforting warmth Fury had ever felt washed over him and he didn't hesitated to follow her this time. They stepped into a cabin of sorts with wood and stone everywhere. On the wall beside them a little ways down sat a large white stone hearth that housed a strange blue fire which was the only real light in the room. 

"Hey kid, what're you doin' here?" A voice crackled around them. fury looked around his hackles raised. 

"Relax." She spoke softly to him. "I promise your safe here." She didn't wait for a response before walking over to the fire place. "Are mom and dad here?" She spoke to the fire this time. 

The voice sounded again and Fury put his suspicion away to walk toward Darcy. "No, they spent the night with Lettie and Marcus. It's time to get ready for May Day again." Fury peered over the edge of the hearth startled by what he saw. 

A face, there was a face in the fire. The face turned to him with a curious expression. "Whoa, that is some curse you got there. I do not envy you good sir." 

"Calcifer this is Director Fury, Fury, Calcifer." 

"Wait wait, wait, Fury? As in the guy who runs that secret society you can't stand?" 

"It's a government agency." She corrected not bothering to correct the rest of what he said. "I don't know who cursed him, but he's been missing for a few days and whoever did this sent him to me." 

"That's never good. Although it turned out pretty well for your parents." 

"Cal!" Darcy snapped warningly. 

"What? I'm just sayin'." She rolled her eyes sighing. 

"Can you break his curse or not?"

"Not, at least not on my own, I'll need Howl's help to channel that much magic into one point." Darcy sighed harshly, running a hand through her hair. She turned to Fury who had made himself comfortable by the table probably what he deemed a safe distance from both of them. 

"Are you hungry?" She asked him. Fury once again hesitated before slowly nodding. "Good, me too. What about you Cal?" 

"I could eat." She nodded and moved to the wall opposite the hearth, pulling a long handled frying pan off the wall and bringing it over to Calcifer. She then dug out a basket of eggs and a platter of bacon. She got to work frying the bacon and eggs then pulled out a few potatoes and peeled them before shredding them with a metal grater and tossing them in a pan to fry as well. 

When all was said and done she plated up the food leaving enough in the pan for Calcifer. She carried the plates to the table and set them out. One in front of Fury the other across from him. She returned to the fire afterward and dumped what was left into Calcifer's waiting mouth. She rolled her eyes at his dramatic noises. 

When they were all finished eating, Darcy cleaned up. "You know, there may be away to give him his voice back." Fury perked up at that. 

"How?" Darcy asked. Calcifer hummed in thought. 

"Get some of those herbs Sophie uses when someone has a sore throat, and grab that amplification powder too." She did as she was told ignoring Fury's curious gaze as he watched her prepare a tea from the ingredients. When it was done she poured it into a mug and set it in front of Fury. "Inhale the steam and then drink the tea." Calcifer told him. 

He did leaving Darcy waiting with bated breath.

"Motherfucker." He snapped. 

"Yep that's him." She laughed, more relieved than she thought she'd be. 

"That damn Loki, I'm gonna get him back for this! He supposed to be dead!" 

"He is." Darcy defended not so sure. "Right? That's what Thor and Jane said." She sat across from him again looking back at Calcifer who was unusually quiet. "Cal?" 

"You are not going back to that world kid." Calcifer said putting his metaphorical foot down. 

"Cal, you can't be serious." She argued. 

"Oh I've never been more serious in my very long life. Not only does the leader of secret organization, who've made it a habit to lock away oddities and exploit gifted beings, know about who you really are, but the God of Mischief and Chaos is sending you cursed messages. You are not leaving this castle ever again." 

Darcy huffed indignantly looking back at Fury then back to Calcifer. "I am not going to abandon my life in that world, my friends, my job, because some spoiled brat with godly levels of Daddy issues thinks he can mess with me." 

"Darcy…"

"No, I went there to help Jane, but now it's my job to help a lot more than just Jane. Now I take care of Bruce and Tony and pretty much all the scientists and let's be honest a few heroes as crazy as that sounds and I'm not going to abandon them. They've had enough of that in their lives I won't add to it. It's bad enough I'm lying to them." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "When dad gets him your gonna turn the director back into his surly self and then we are going back to Midgard Loki or no Loki." 

With that she turned for the stairs. "There's a spare bed in my room upstairs. You can either sleep on that or sleep down here on the sofa." 

xXx

Darcy opened her eyes to her father's smiling face. "Morning pumpkin." He greeted. She smiled back. 

"Morning daddy." 

"Director Fury is waiting for you downstairs. I have to say I don't think he's as intimidating as you described." She grunted noncommittally. 

Downstairs Fury was sitting by the hearth with her mother, the two of them discussing something in hushed tones with Calcifer. 

They stopped when she hit the bottom of the stairs. "Ready to go?" She asked trying to ignore the inscrutable look Fury was giving her. She bid farewell to her family and led Fury back through the door black spot up. 

Back in Darcy's Brooklyn apartment nothing had changed. "Did time stop here?" 

"Yea," she replied. "That spell I cast on Happy to put him to sleep also slowed time. We've been on for a eight hours or so but here it's only been like eight minutes." She locked up her secret room and headed for the bedroom. "It'll make it a lot easier to convince Happy he just passed out for some random reason." 

True to belief it was pretty easy to convince him his blood sugar dropped and he passed out. His embarrassed sputtering was kind of cute if she was being honest and the look of shock when he notice Fury in the door way had her forcing back her laughter. 

They would later explain it to the Avengers by saying Fury escaped his captors of unknown origin and came out somewhere in New York. He recognized the area from photos of Darcy's neighborhood in their packet on her and broke in before she got there. He said he figured whoever had taken him would never suspect he would take refuge in a civilian's home. 

The next morning Darcy was called to Fury's office. She starred at him expectantly, half expecting a tactical team to barge in and take her into custody. 

"I don't like being indebted to people. Ever. That being said I do owe your father and Calcifer whatever he may be."

"Fire demon. He's a fire demon." He raised a brow incredulously. She shrugged. "It's a long story."

"I'm sure. The point is, I promised your father as payment for his help that I would watch out for you, especially where Loki was involved. So I would appreciate it if you kept me in the loop. I'll have agents on you as well, so if you still want to keep your secret I suggest you not do anything to draw attention to yourself in public." 

"I suppose you want to know everything right?" 

"Not necessary. Your mother is very proud of you, she was all too happy to brag about her kind hearted daughter who gave up everything to help someone she didn't even know achieve her dream." He paused moving to take a seat behind his desk. "That kind of desire to help, it's what makes Coulson such a good handler. If you ever decide to see what SHIELD is really about, there's always room for an agent with so much potential."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Day 21 (Hopefully)  
> Superhero AU  
> Darcy Lewis/Sif


End file.
